Seems like a 'catch-22' migrating to a new server using Freepbx distro

Currently running PIAF with fpbx 12 and asterisk 1.8. Just built a new server using fpbx distro 10.13.66 running fpbx 13 and Asterisk 11. I can’t find a migration path. I want to upgrade the old server to fpbx 13 so I can make a freepbx migration backup to move to the new server. But it won’t let me run the 12-to-13 upgrade tool since fpbx 13 requires Asterisk 11 and I only have 1.8. I tried a manual install of Asterisk 11 which (a) crashed and (b) was not seen by Freepbx anyway (still thinks 1.8 is installed). I assume there is a more direct path to solve this issue. Googling does not come up with a solution. Can somebody please direct me to the correct steps?

I’ve just done this recently. Start with an install of Distro 6.12, restore your backup fromthe PIAF machine and confirm all is working as it should be. Once you’re running the Distro, you are free to upgrade FreePBX, Asterisk and the OS using the scripts provided

Thanks. I was trying to avoid upgrades in place since I have run into flaky behavior so many times doing that. Is there a way to downgrade the fpbx 13 to fpbx 12 on the new box? Then import config and only have to upgrade fpbx back to 13?

No.

Have you had issues updating a FreePBX Distro PBX? I have done countless module updates, Asterisk upgrades (and downgrades) , OS updates, yum updates, distro script updates as well as several FreePBX conversions from 12 to 13 without issue (or with very minor issue) on the PBX Distro.

That’s good to hear, and no, my bad experiences go back probably to Trixbox-encased Asterisk. In general, I prefer clean installs over upgrades but I am happy to hear you have had no problems. I also just downloaded 6.12 and see that it can install with Asterisk 11, so really I am only upgrading Freepbx from 12 to 13 on the new box, waiting, as you say, until I am sure everything is working ok. I’ll follow your suggestion and start afresh. Thank you.

In the future you can quickly switch asterisk versions with “asterisk-version-switch” when on the FreePBX distro compared to others. This will let you go to newer Asterisk versions without having to rebuild the whole thing

Andrew, thanks for your comment as well. I actually tried to drop that script on the old box to see if it would run and switch my 1.8 to 11. It had yum/rpm issues so I decided not to spend time to debug those. I look forward to using this script “legitimately” in the future. --Dale

Yeah unfortunately it requires RPMs and the PIAF crew are against RPMS for Asterisk so it won’t work there.